Emrys and Gwaine visit the tavern
by Nishaya
Summary: One-shot spin-off of Declolove's "Flee" (SPOILER ALERT). Merlin is banned from Camelot and hides as Emrys. Gwaine figures out his true identity and is so overjoyed that he takes Emrys to the tavern.


**A/N: This is what I call fanfiction fanfiction. It is a one-shot based on Declolove's (my friend) ongoing fanfiction story called "Flee". This one-shot can be considered to be chapter 8.5 of "Flee". Some things in my one-shot might not make sense to you if you haven't read my friend's story. It is a very good story and I would recommend you read it. I'm new at writing fanfiction and this one-shot I wrote with Declolove's help and one other friend. I hope you enjoy it!**

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Emrys is on his way back to the druid camp in the forest. He sees Gwaine wandering on the streets and decided to see what he's up to. Clearly he is drunk.

"Well look who we have here!" Gwaine walks towards him and puts his arm around Emrys' neck. "My dear friend! How long has it been since you've enjoyed a decent mug of ale?"

"Gwaine, I can't. I'm supposed to be Emrys, remember."

"But you're not Emrys, you're Merlin."

"You're not supposed to call me that."

"Oh come on, you know you want to go."

"Gwaine, I really can't."

"I'll give you a special hat! No one will recognize you."

"Gwaine I-"

"We'll go to the one on the far side of the city; they barely know who you are."

Even though Emrys is supposed to behave like a leader, going to the tavern with his old drinking buddy does sound very tempting. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah it'll be fine!"

Emrys and Gwaine arrive at the tavern which lies on the far side of the city. Emrys hopes not many people will recognize him there. They enter the rather small building and Emrys immediately notices something is off. They could hear the yelling and shouting of drunken people from outside, but now it's dead quiet. Everyone is staring at them.

"I thought you said they wouldn't recognize me."

"I guess I was wrong," Gwaine replies.

"I told you this silly hat wouldn't help."

"Nonsense, you look … dashing!" Gwaine grins. "NEXT ROUND IS ON THE KING!" he shouts. The awkward silence gets broken by the loud cheering.

"I hope you remember what Arthur made us do the last time he got your bill." Emrys says with a sigh.

"But this time I'll have the mighty Emrys to help me out." Gwaine smiles and they sit down at the closest table. A barmaid brings them two big mugs of ale. Emrys takes a sip and watches as Gwaine finishes his in a matter of seconds. Gwaine switches his empty mug with Emrys' full one.

"Gwaine, shouldn't you take it a bit easy?"

"I haven't had a reason to celebrate in a long time. I'm just happy to have you back Merlin."

"You're not supposed to call me that. I'm Emrys."

"You're right, I keep forgetting." He finishes Emrys' mug and slams it on the table.

Emrys gets up "I have to go to the bathroom. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He leaves Gwaine sitting by himself.

The door of the tavern opens, Percival and Leon enter. Gwaine stands up, "My friends!" he says while holding his mug up in the air.

Leon sighs "Not again."

Gwaine puts his arm around Percival's neck and takes a sip from his mug. "There's someone I'd like you both to meet!"

"Yeah yeah, let's get you back to your room before you start disturbing the city again." Percival steers Gwaine towards the exit.

"Wait! You have to meet my new friend first, he's amazing! Mer-" he cuts himself off realizing he was about to call out for Merlin. He tries to hide his mistake with a cough and finishes his sentence "Emrys! Ah there he is!" Leon and Percival watch as Gwaine walks towards a man wearing casual clothes and a silly hat and hugs him.

"Gwaine that is not-" Emrys takes of his hat, revealing his full face with the druid mark on his cheek. "Emrys!" Leon finishes and looks surprised. Both he and Percival make a slight bow to show their respect.

"I found your friend here wandering outside. He said he needed my help to attend to some matters of great importance."

"Yes, for him ale is very important indeed." Percival says.

"Seeing so many druids around must be stirring up memories of his old friend, I apologize for the inconvenience." Leon adds.

"Not at all." Emrys replies. "I should thank your friend for taking me here. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a good mug of ale. Come join us for a while. I'd like to get to know Arthur's knights better." They all sit down at the table and the barmaid brings two more mugs of ale for Percival and Leon.

"I'm surprised to see you here Emrys." Leon says.

"I always like the opportunity to take a break from being a leader, it can be tiring sometimes." Emrys replies.

"You've never been the leading type Mer-" Gwaine is cut off by Emrys kicking him under the table, making Gwaine spill his ale on his shirt. Gwaine stands up and looks at his shirt "Mer-". Emrys' eyes flash gold and Gwaine suddenly stops talking.

"Won't your men be worried about you?" Leon continues.

"They know I can handle myself."

"Yes I'm sure they do." Leon thinks about how Emrys easily beat the knights of Camelot and Emrys' own men (druids) during the training. Gwaine glares at Emrys and motions to his mouth indignantly. Emrys' eyes flash gold again undoing the spell.

"I need a refill." Gwaine exclaims.

"You'll be broke again Gwaine." Percival says.

"Allow me." Emrys hovers his hand above Gwaine's mug and mutters some words. His eyes flash gold again and ale appears in the mug.

"You've got to teach me that!" Gwaine says with a surprised look. Emrys grins and does the same for his own mug. Percival and Leon stare at him with stunned looks on their faces. Emrys takes a couple of sips as Gwaine finishes his in a couple of seconds again and stands up. "I will be right back. Bathroom time."

Gwaine is so drunk that on the way back he wobbles between all the table and chairs. He bumps into a table with five big looking men wearing mostly black clothing. They certainly do not look happy when one of their mugs falls over and spills its content on one of the men's pants.

"Sorry about that, I'll let you pretty ladies continue your little chat." Gwaine wants to walk back to his table but the men stand up and stop him.

"You're going to need to pay for that." Says the man whose pants are wet. Meanwhile, Percival and Leon get up to assist Gwaine but get stopped by Emrys.

"Let me handle this." He says.

"Are you sure?" Leon asks.

"I insist. You can just sit down and enjoy the show." He says with a big grin as he refills their mugs with ale.

Emrys turns towards the five men surrounding Gwaine. "Is there a problem my friends?"

The man turns to Emrys. "And what are you supposed to be? From the looks of your hat you must be a magician of some sorts." The men laugh.

"Don't mock my hat! I grew quite fond of it. It's quite comfortable."

"It looks ridiculous" The man's face is now right in front of Emrys'.

"You better watch out what you say!" Gwaine says.

"Or what? You'll make us disappear?" The man flicks the hat off of Emrys' head. The others laugh.

"Something like that."

"I'm not afraid of a druid."

"You should be!" Gwaine exclaims. Emrys had only a few sips of ale but it's more than enough to make him feel drunk. "I'm not just A druid. By the way, did anyone ever tell you that you guys really do look like pretty ladies?"

The man lunges his fist towards Emrys' face. Emrys' eyes flash gold and the man's fist stops midair, inches away from Emrys' face. The man can't move at all and looks surprised. Emrys picks up his hat, dusts it off and puts it back on.

"That's better. Now, where were we?"

The barmaid passes by with a tray of ale. Gwaine picks a mug from the tray without the barmaid noticing and starts drinking it.

Emrys continues. "Ah yes, pretty ladies… although your eyes don't shine as pretty as mine do. Let me demonstrate." Emrys' eyes flash gold again and the man is launched backwards into Gwaine. Gwaine's mug is knocked out of his hand and falls to the ground, spilling all the ale.

"I was drinking that!" He punches the man in the face, knocking him out.

The second man tries to punch Emrys in the face. Emrys grabs hold of hat and ducks, dodging the punch. He uses magic to put the man's feet next to each other and tie his bootlaces together. The man loses his balance and falls forward hitting his head on a table, knocking himself out. Number three is having a fist fight with Gwaine. Emrys quickly takes of his hat, holds it in his hand, mutters some words and throws it to the man's head like a plate.

The hat is as hard as steel, it hits the man's head, knocking him out as well. Number four and five approach both Emrys and Gwaine who are now standing side by side.

"This brings me back memories my friends. It's just like old tim-"

Emrys' elbow pokes Gwaine in his side. "Indeed it is. Are you up for one more or should I take 'em both?"

"No I've got this one." Gwaine says. He tries to punch number four but misses horribly, spins around due to the force of his swing and falls on the ground.

Emrys sighs "I guess I'll take 'em both then."

The two men draw their swords.

"Swords are very dangerous. They're very pointy and sharp. Someone could get hurt."

His eyes flash gold and the swords now float midair in front of the two men's faces. They try to walk backwards; away from the swords but the swords follow them. They bump into a table and are cornered. In a corner of the room there's a rack with wine bottles. Emrys' eyes flash gold again and two of the bottles float towards the men.

"Like I said; I'm not just A druid. I'm a drunken druid." He makes the bottles hit their heads hard, they shatter and the two men fall to the ground.

Gwaine sighs "Such a waste!"

Emrys walks towards hit hat, he picks it up and turns it back to normal.

"Gwaine! Someone's put a dent in my hat. I need a new one."

"We'll go hat shopping in the morning."

"I'll keep you to that. This hat came in pretty handy, I want to keep it." He puts it back on. He turns towards the barkeeper.

"I sincerely apologize for the destruction and the disturbance. Although I do hope you enjoyed the show," he bows and stumbles a bit. "I think I've had enough fun for the day." He helps Gwaine up, whose own attempts at getting up failed multiple times, and walk to the door. They totally forget Percival and Leon who have been staring at him the entire time in stunned amazement.

"And they live happily ever after." Gwaine says, having had the night of his life with his best friend who has finally come back.

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**A/N: I am currently working on my own multi-chapter story. It involves a lot of action with Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine and Lancelot. Merlin has to figure out a way to solve his own big problem before it's too late. I will probably start uploading it within the next two weeks.**


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